Shugyosha

+1

Hi Nick, Like you, my feeling is that, logically, yaki otoshi can't exist on one side of the blade only but that's just a feeling and not borne from any metallurgical knowledge. Consequently, I'd be looking for another explanation for the lack or apparent lack of hamon in that area: a false hamon where the kesho has worn off in one area only or maybe some scuffing of the blade creating a shiny spot that hides the hamon underneath or perhaps the hamon is more tired in this area than elsewhere and doesn't show clearly. I'm scratching around a bit.

What he said. Brilliant acquisition.

Hi Chris, Welcome to NMB. It's hard to say very much based on the pictures as, in order to get anywhere close with kantei I need good clear photographs of the whole blade plus some neon signs, flashing arrows and a good deal of luck... ...but the general rule as regards boshi is that in koto blades the shape of the hardened edge is a continuation of the shape of the hamon in the rest of the blade and in shinto blades it becomes suguba. This is what I think I can see in the picture of the whole blade. Also I think the overall sugata points towards kanbun shinto (1660's) having a shallow curvature, showing some difference in width from the habaki moto to the yokote and having a smallish kissaki. If you are able to take some pictures of the tang and maybe some close ups of the hada, hamon and boshi that might help with pinning it down. The hamon looks quite distinctive and is ringing some bells but I can't quite place it for now - shinto Bizen maybe. I'd agree with the comments above about the koshirae, it looks like a replacement tsuka, probably modern and seems too long for a wakizashi. The tsuba is an unusual size: for a wakizashi they are normally a little smaller than those for a katana or exceptionally wakizashi have aikuchi mountings with no tsuba. This seems to be a half way house - I'm not saying it's unique - almost every rule regarding Japanese swords has its exceptions and I come across something I haven't seen before with alarming regularity. How's the fit? If it's loose it might indicate that it wasn't made for or fitted to the blade but was added later to make up the set. I can't say too much about the saya but an absence of dings or scuffs might indicate recent manufacture. Best, John

Hi Jason, It may be something to do with the steel that was used. I had a Fujiwara Takeda blade that was similarly understated in terms of hada - it was there but it took some fiddling with the light and with angles of view to get a decent look at it. On the other hand, as an example of the other side of the coin, Mino blades often have hada that contrasts strongly with a darkish jigane...but as you say type of polish or being out of polish can play a part as can overall condition - blades that are tired often have a more obvious grain. I hope you don't find yourself put off too much by this, as you are far from alone - most collectors (including myself) have been through similar experiences. Best, John

Hi Chris, I think this is an excellent post on a well chosen subject. Ultimately, (stating the bleeding obvious) I feel that what it comes down to is that some people have access to items at what is closer to a wholesale price than others or can source items that are sufficiently attractive that this of itself creates price elasticity and they can be marked up accordingly. There are markets within the market: for example sellers of items on NMB often begin by pricing them at or near to what they paid for them from a dealer and, as you say, particularly with mumei shinto wakizashi, if they sell it is at a price rather lower than the dealer price. As such NMB has its own micro-climate to some extent and it is perhaps more of a "buyers' market" than elsewhere. As for the Japanese markets, perhaps the auctions are not efficient market places: a licence is required to participate and so there is a closed-shop that can only be accessed by a fixed number of dealers who are presumably known to one another and perhaps have business relationships going back many years. Were I in that situation I would be having conversations ahead of auctions to find out who was bidding on what and how far they were prepared to go and perhaps agreeing not to bid on certain items in return for a clear run at others. Also, it's hard to assess the impact of Japanese societal factors on this market in terms of the age, seniority, perceived rank of the bidders - it would not be too hard to imagine a situation where kohai defers to sempai as in other areas of Japanese society and perhaps some individuals benefit from this in terms of what is bought and sold and for what price. Also outside influences - the Yakuza have had their fingers in the sword pie previously and may have some influence here. A couple of things I have heard that might be relevant are that one reasonably well known shop indeed does have a warehouse full of items in various conditions that are pulled out and sold from time to time - it would be a surprise if they were the only one. Also that the new money in Russia and China is distorting the market to some extent as they are buying up better quality items. I'm sure others have better-informed views on this. Thanks for starting an interesting thread. Kind regards, John

Hi JP, I think Ray is talking about the one (fukure) near the mune in the first series of photos. The one at the habaki moto is comparatively trivial, maybe more of a kitae ware that has followed the line of the burl in the hada but it's still a little unsightly (sorry to the OP). Best, John

Hi Eli, Without NBTHK papers to confirm the signature, I would leave well alone. The owner could have submitted to NBTHK shinsa and either hasn't done so, if not why not? or the blade has failed and he is trying to make the blade someone else's problem. The same goes for the Muramasa tanto in your other post. The gold tameshimei looks like it was done yesterday and there is a market for handwritten papers that get used to lend apparent legitimacy to gimei swords so there is nothing to suggest that the papers actually relate to this blade or were made by any kind of authority - the kakihan doesn't look like any of the Hon'ami ones that I have as a reference. Save your money - at the price point of a genuine Tadayoshi or Muramasa you can have your pick of any number of excellent legitimate blades. If they are going cheap, it's because they aren't the real deal. Best, John

I've only used Matsumoto san once, but my experience was similar to Jeremiah's. Very happy with what I purchased and how it was described and the transaction went without any hitch or complication.

Hi, It's Tanba Kami Terukado. Here's the entry from Markus Sesko's eJapanese swordsmiths: "TERUKADO (照門), Manji (万治, 1658-1661), Mino – “Kanekado” (兼門), “Zenjō Fujiwara Kanekado” (善定藤原兼門), “Tanba no Daijō Fujiwara Terukado” (丹波大掾藤原照門), “Tanba no Kami Fujiwara Terukado” (丹波守藤原照門), “Tanba no Kami Terukado” (丹波守照門), “Nōshū Seki no jū Tanba no Kami Fujiwara Terukado saku” (濃州関之住濃州丹波守藤原照門作), “Nōshū Tanba no Kami Fujiwara Terukado” (濃州丹波守藤原照門), real name Mitsui Sō´emon (三井惣右衛門), he is also listed with the first name Sōkurō (宗九郎), Zenjō school, he signed first with Kanekado (兼門), after receiving the honorary title Tanba no Kami (丹波守) in the second year of Manji (1659) he changed his name to Terukado (照門), when the Ujifusa lineage (氏房) moved to Nagoya (名古屋) in Owari province, the local honorary title Seki-kaji-tōryō (関鍛冶頭領, lit. “master of all Seki smiths”) was transferred to the lineage of Kanekado, his successors did not continue the name Terukado but returned to Kanekado, dense ko-itame with fine ji-nie mixed with masame and masame along the shinogi-ji, suguha-hotsure or ō-gunome-midare mixed with angular hako-midare in nie-deki with a wide nioiguchi, interpretations in midare begin with a sugu-yakidashi, during his early years – i.e. around Manji – he applied thick and prominent sujikai-yasurime, they become finer over the years and appear as katte-sagari in his later years, first he applied a distinctive iriyamagata-jiri which becomes later a ha-agari kurijiri, he also worked in Ise´s Kuwana (桑名) and in Edo and also worked with nanban-tetsu, chūjō-saku". Welcome to the forum and best regards, John

Yes - they're usually assembly numbers so that the various components for the fittings can be married up.

Signature reads 義長 - Yoshinaga The period part of the date is quite cursive but I'm pretty sure it will be 18th year, 8th month of Showa so August, 1943. What John said regarding stamps. If there are none you may well have a traditionally made blade rather than a mass-produced one, so it looks like a good find. Here is the entry from Markus Sesko's eJapanese swordsmiths which doesn't mention him working as a gunto smith and so might back up the view that it wasn't mass-produced. "YOSHINAGA (義長), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Yoshinaga” (義長), real name Hoshiya Yoshio (星屋芳夫)". Best, John

Hi Nick, For me, at the lower end of the market there isn't much difference between the two. I think that in either case, the shinsa panels will know infinitely more than your average Joe (me and the majority of western collectors) and so both bodies' views should be respected, but it has to be viewed in the context of the item in question and the attribution. To give an example, in the context of, say, a mumei sword with an attribution to a school, say "Echizen Shimosaka" then the papers of each body are of roughly equal value. They confirm that it is a genuine Japanese sword and that it has no fatal flaws, but the additional information in the NTHK paper will normally give a time frame for manufacture which is perhaps more interesting to the beginning collector perhaps something like "Keicho goro" - around Keicho. That said, sometimes with the NBTHK papers it is possible to read between the lines and work out a rough time frame from the attribution, for example "ko Mihara", "Mihara", "sue Mihara" point to different points of time in the koto period: http://www.nihontocraft.com/Mihara_Nihonto.html Where NBTHK papers can be positively unhelpful is where there are a number of generations of swordsmiths signing in a similar way or where swordsmiths in different provinces signed the same way. In this case, the papers do not always state which smith made the sword and only serve to confirm the sword and signature as genuine and, again, that it has no fatal flaws.Then you are down to relying on your own judgement or that of some helpful friends as to which generation of smith, or a smith from a particular province, actually made the sword and not all are necessarily regarded equally. Sellers of swords may not (actually won't be as the NBTHK are top of the tree) be any better informed or may be unscrupulous and imply that it may be by the bigger name or names in the group of smiths in question rather than the shirt-tail smith in the group whose work is of lesser value. Again, NTHK papers may resolve this problem as they often provide a note of time frame and province. NBTHK papers are, however, the gold standard higher up the price range and to some extent it depends on the individual collector as to the point at which this becomes significant. You should have a read of Darcy Brockbank's posts on this subject on here as he sets this part in better context than I can. Best, John

Steve was sharper than me as usual Here are the entries from Markus Sesko's eJapanese Swordsmiths: KANEKADO (兼門), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Kanekado” (兼門), real name Yoshida Tokuichi (吉田徳一), born March 29th 1906, he worked as a guntō smith and died September 6th 1969, student of Kurihara Kaneaki (栗原兼明), ryōkō no jōi (Akihide), Fifth Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941) HIROSHIGE (広重), 2nd gen., Kan´ei (寛永, 1624-1644), Musashi – “Bushū Shitahara Hiroshige” (武州下原広重), “Sagami no Kami Fujiwara Hiroshige” (相模守藤原広重), real name Yamamoto Tō´emon (山本藤右衛門), oldest son of the 1st gen. Shinshichirō Hiroshige, he changed his name later to Masashige (正重), the honorary title Sagami no Kami was granted to him on the second day of the eighth month Kan´ei 16 (1639) Best, John

That's a lovely blade Jean. If I were a richer man I'd be in like Flint. Hope the sale goes well. Best, John

Hi John, (On genuine tsuba anyway) it's to take the retaining catch on gunto koshirae. I've got a ko kinko tsuba with a similar modification. Best, John

Hi Steve, Looking again, I managed "Showa" and "hi" and of the name I have "Kanzan" as the first two kanji which suggests that "Sato" ought to follow, but I can't spot the kanji even though I ought to be able to get the last one as it looks familiar... Gambarimasu!!! Best, John

Hi Greg, Better eyes and brains than mine are required: On the lid: 鐔 - tsuba At the bottom of the second line - 美濃 - Mino Third line: 烏銅七々子地 [木瓜]??形 - Udou nanako ji [mokko?] gata From Markus Sesko's encyclopaedia: Sometimes in old references shakudō is written with the characters (烏金) or (烏銅). These read actually as ukin (lit. “raven gold”) or udō (lit. “raven copper”) respectively. So shakudō can also be called ukin or udō. Er - that's my lot, sorry. Best, John

The Stibbert Museum, Florence.

Can't you see the naked lady?

祥 = Shyou - auspicious, good fortune, good omen.

I think that Brian has put this rather well. From my point of view, I've been happy to sit back on this thread and gather what information I can and file it away for (hopefully) future use. I don't know enough to weigh in with views of my own on this subject but have enjoyed reading and respect the opinions of those who have contributed. Best, John

Hi Tom and Bazza, This is by way of an apology to Tom for doubting his intentions on a previous thread. My stab at the translation will normally be corrected by one or more of the better linguists on the forum. I've added in the entry from Markus Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan as well which explains the signature. AKIHIDE (昭秀), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Tōkyō – “Kurihara Akihide kore o kinsaku” (栗原昭秀謹作之), “Shimotsuke no Kuni-jūnin Kurihara Hikosaburō Akihide saku” (下野国住人栗原彦三郎昭秀作), “Tekka Nyūdō Akihide saku” (鉄火入道 昭秀作), “Kun-yontō Akihide saku” (勲四等昭秀作, “Akihide, bearer of the Order of Merit fourth class”), real name Kurihara Hikosaburō (栗原彦三郎), born on the eighth day of the second month Meiji twelve (1879) in Sano (佐野) in Tochigi Prefecture, there he studied under the local smith Inagaki Saijirō Masanori (将応), later he became also an apprentice of Horii Taneaki (堀井胤明), he was a member of the Lower House of Tochigi Prefecture and opened on July 5th 1933 in Tōkyō´s Akasaka-Hikawashita (赤坂氷川下) the famous training site Nihontō Tanren Denshūjo (日本刀鍛錬伝習所) which gave rise to many of the later leading modern smiths, he died on May 5th 1954 at the age of 76, gō Tekka (鉄火) 為奉祝皇紀二千六百年靈山神社御遷座祭 Tame Hōshuku Kōki ni sen roppyaku nen Ryōsen Jinja (no) Go Senza sai Senza sai is a ceremony for the movement of a deity to a different site. This took place in the 2600th year of the imperial era in Japan. 栗原 米 司献之 Kurihara beishi mitsugu kore The Kurihara rice (production?) bureau dedicated this. So, if I have read correctly the sword was presented to the Ryōsen shrine by the rice production bureau of Kurihara to commemorate the movement of a deity in the 2600th year of the imperial calendar (1940). A really nice thing to own - can we see some pictures of the blade please Tom? Best, John

Some other examples here: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23518-unusual-tsuba/

Another option on woodblock prints: https://japaneseprints.net/